Lately I have been receiving 10-30 calls a week from numbers similar to my cell number (same area code and prefix). They also usually show a "friendly" name like "Ashley" or "John Jones". I Googled it and apparently it is called "neighbor spoofing". I almost never answer any call that isn't in my contact list. I also block each number as they call. However, it is still very annoying as they use a different number each time and there are 1000 just with my prefix. Is there anything you can do about it?

I am already on the do not call list and verified that. I think I may have stupidly given my number to someone when getting health insurance quotes and not read the fine print (not even sure of the site I used).

I've answered a few of these calls (to see who it was). Most of the time, there is no one there even if I say hello 5 times. Sometimes it is for a vacation I "won".

Sounds like a robocall when no one responds to you. They don't want to waste their precious time, so the computer will call you many times over a few weeks to see when you are most likely to be at home and answer the phone. It is also possible that your call was queued and they didn't pick up fast enough.

The best thing you can do is NOT answer those calls, it's the same as responding to a spam email asking to be taken off the mailing list, it just confirms that the number or email address is valid. I no longer answer any calls unless I know who it is. A legitimate caller will start to leave a message and then I can pick up.

I block all calls of that nature. Most of them won't repeat a call, but some of them do.

As I understand it, they aren't actually calling from these numbers. They are spoofing it. So they can just move on to the next number (773-793-0001, 773-793-0002, etc). I guess after I've blocked all 1000......

Wife's cell phone rings, she picks up. Unknown but unblocked number, but close to hers (same XXX-YYY). Guy goes "hi, I saw you just tried to called me." She correctly states that no, she hadn't called anyone for hours. Guy wouldn't believe it, starts arguing.

So someone spoofed her number for a spam call, recipient misses call but later calls spoofed number back.

I don't know anyone with a similar number than mine, and I don't live in my "area code" region anymore, so I never pick up those "similar number" calls anymore. And certainly don't call back.

I block all calls of that nature. Most of them won't repeat a call, but some of them do.

As I understand it, they aren't actually calling from these numbers. They are spoofing it. So they can just move on to the next number (773-793-0001, 773-793-0002, etc). I guess after I've blocked all 1000......

Agree - these are very annoying and can't be blocked since they just randomize the last 4 digits (never the same called-from twice). I get these nearly every day and just know if its local - don't answer. I have thought about seeing if there was a way of blocking using wildcards in the last 4 positions - don't think my carrier nor phone support it.
In general - if it isn't my contact I don't answer. On the cell phone these certainly get very annoying.

Wife's cell phone rings, she picks up. Unknown but unblocked number, but close to hers (same XXX-YYY). Guy goes "hi, I saw you just tried to called me." She correctly states that no, she hadn't called anyone for hours. Guy wouldn't believe it, starts arguing.

After the guy repeats this argument with another dozen spoofed numbers he will finally catch on.

A legitimate caller will start to leave a message and then I can pick up.

Another annoying thing: spammers that actually leave voice mail. What I have observed is that the phone rings once, and a few minutes later I have a voice mail. Not quite sure how they actually force the redirect to voice mail.

I use an app on my phone (Hiya) to block most calls like this that are either not from a caller in my contact list or a verified business number. Every once in a while it will block a legitimate call, but it is right 99% of the time.

After the guy repeats this argument with another dozen spoofed numbers he will finally catch on.

When I overheard the one side of the conversation, I immediately realized what was going on (for some reason I have been receiving tons of those same-area-code-and-prefix calls, she hasn't). After I explained the scam, she is now safe from even those confused call-backers because their call-back looks exactly like the spam callers...

I use an app on my phone (Hiya) to block most calls like this that are either not from a caller in my contact list or a verified business number. Every once in a while it will block a legitimate call, but it is right 99% of the time.

I have Hiya, but I use Google Voice so I will still have missed calls and rings on my computer, tablet, etc. That is why I block them on GV.

Hiya does let you block numbers that begin with XXX-XXX. I could do that. I don't know that I ever get a legitimate call from my prefix, but who knows if I might someday.

Hiya does have the option to block (send to vm) all unknown (not in your contacts) numbers. I may do that. There is also an option to screen calls. If you do this it sends any number not in your contacts a text asking them who they are. Again, I would still get the calls/missed calls on devices other than my phone due to GV.

Hiya does let you block numbers that begin with XXX-XXX. I could do that. I don't know that I ever get a legitimate call from my prefix, but who knows if I might someday.

It is a war that is hard to win unless the phone companies somehow can block theses VOIP spammers. BTW I'm getting some with just the area code same as my phone but the rest presumably made up, so the spammers continue to adapt...

A legitimate caller will start to leave a message and then I can pick up.

Another annoying thing: spammers that actually leave voice mail. What I have observed is that the phone rings once, and a few minutes later I have a voice mail. Not quite sure how they actually force the redirect to voice mail.

Yes, I enabled Hiya to block all numbers that start with my area code and my prefix - i.e. xxx-xxx that matches my number. This seems to block most spam calls not otherwise handled. I did just run into a situation a few days ago where it blocked a legit number but I just unblocked it.

I find the send a text option confuses people as typically it was not actually their number that called but rather it was spoofed. So often you will get a reply along the lines of “who is this” or “stop texting me”.

I get the same types of calls described above, neighbor calls. I was using Mr. Number but that stopped working. I switched to HiYa, actually by the same company as Mr. Number. Seems OK so far.

But I've got a wrinkle. I switched to Project Fi in November. say my number is 212-555-1212. At least a few times a week I get calls from 818-555-1212 then the next one is from 458-555-1212, etc. Or sometimes, xxx-y55-1212. So the last 6 or 7 digits of my number from different area codes. Its happened several dozen times at least.

I've noticed the same thing. I don't answer calls if I don't know who they are from. Very rarely I will if I'm expecting a call but am not absolutely certain of the number, but only if the area code is right - and now, I wouldn't answer if it was from my own prefix.

Most don't leave messages. If it was a legitimate caller, they could - I block the call, but not leaving messages, until I have a reason. If I google the number & find it's been reported as a problem number, then I'll block leaving messages as well.

Is there any solution for people who get these calls on a small business cell phone? I often get calls I am not expecting from my client's vendors, whom I don't have in my phone directory. I don't have the option of ignoring calls from unknown numbers...

Hiya does let you block numbers that begin with XXX-XXX. I could do that. I don't know that I ever get a legitimate call from my prefix, but who knows if I might someday.

It is a war that is hard to win unless the phone companies somehow can block theses VOIP spammers. BTW I'm getting some with just the area code same as my phone but the rest presumably made up, so the spammers continue to adapt...

In some(many?) countries the person making a call to a cell phone pays a charge so the virtually anonymous spam calls don't happen. Since there is a cost associated with making spam calls I would assume that spam calls are very rare in those countries.

Unfortunately in the US the phone companies get paid by the call receiver everytime they answer a spam call so they have a lot of incentive not to block spam calls.

I forget where I read it but at one point I heard a suggestion that there should be a "ring tax" where everyone would be charged a penny every time you called someone. That would quickly end spam calls. We can't get into politics here but that proposal went nowhere.

Is there any solution for people who get these calls on a small business cell phone? I often get calls I am not expecting from my client's vendors, whom I don't have in my phone directory. I don't have the option of ignoring calls from unknown numbers...

It's exceedingly unlikely that these vendors will be from your exchange, so if you just ignore those calls, you will almost never miss one you actually want to receive. And most likely you'll get a VM from the one that you do, so you can add them to your contact list.

The only calls I answer from 847-345-XXXX (my area code and exchange) are from my wife and son, both of whom are in my contact list. All others I reject (and there are a LOT). Unfortunately I haven't found a way to do this automatically.

I've started getting a lot of these "spoofed number from the same prefix as mine" calls on my cell phone in the last 6 months. No point in blocking them individually because they never seem to spoof the same number twice. I just ignore the calls, as I do for any number I don't recognize, they don't leave voicemails anyway.

I get a ton of these. Hiya can help here, and because they maintain a list of known scam numbers, it is a good app to use overall.

If your phone is Android, you can block number patterns (like area code + three numbers) from your phone app itself. It's in phone - settings - call - call rejection - auto rejection list. When you enter a new rule, you can select a 'starts with' option. So I block all numbers that are, for instance, 203 - 272 -xxxx.

I also have a Google voice number, and I set up my main phone number to forward to that number after 4 rings so that my voicemail is essentially Google voice. I maintain that account by computer - voicemails go to my email, where they are easy to delete if a spammer actually gets through and leaves an empty voicemail. So I don't have to call in to a voice mail box to delete them. I wish I could do this on my work phone, which also gets lots of spam, alas.

I wish there were such a thing for text messages. I have one app that did well at spam filtering for a while, but then started crashing whenever I sent pictures over text.

My job as a technician (before retiring) involved the installation, training, maintenance of call center systems and interfaces. The PRI, or ISDN technology, has made it very easy for trained customers to change their phone numbers on "telecom caller ID systems. This technology is being used my hackers, and criminal minds to deceive people of whose calling you. I believe that our Congress is needing to pass a few regulations, or this is going to get worse over time. It was my professional position with a huge telco, that allows me to learn what was happening. Laws need to be passed and enforced that stop illegal use of the new ISDN features. For the peace of the nation. I've even gotten calls from myself. That's how crazy ISDN uncontrolled is.

I'm amazed at the wealth of Knowledge others gather, and share over a lifetime of learning. The mind is truly unique. It's nice when we use it!

The regulations are in place and have been for years. The TCPA is more than 20 years old. The TCPA allows for up to $3000 per call in violations and your state laws may offer more relief, for example north Carolina allows up to $5000 per call or $8000 per call total for spam calls.

The problem is that able bodied adults would rather complain about it online than enforce laws in the courts.

Is there any solution for people who get these calls on a small business cell phone?

Sue them. They won't stop, but at least you can get compensated for your time and annoyance.

The regulations are in place and have been for years. The TCPA is more than 20 years old. The TCPA allows for up to $3000 per call in violations and your state laws may offer more relief, for example north Carolina allows up to $5000 per call or $8000 per call total for spam calls.

The problem is that able bodied adults would rather complain about it online than enforce laws in the courts.

Is there any solution for people who get these calls on a small business cell phone?

Sue them. They won't stop, but at least you can get compensated for your time and annoyance.

Do you know how much it costs to sue someone? Most are probably located in India or outside the US. And who said they are violating a law?

It still annoys me but I use this as an opportunity to interact with different people.
I will get them to call me back . I will lead them on and abuse them as I see fit. Great opportunity to experiment with the human psyche. Also gives them a chance to learn some new words in the english language.
Unfortunately I don't get as many calls as I used to; maybe they are catching on to me?
In retirement you have to get some jollys where you don't always have a chance.

It still annoys me but I use this as an opportunity to interact with different people.
I will get them to call me back . I will lead them on and abuse them as I see fit. Great opportunity to experiment with the human psyche. Also gives them a chance to learn some new words in the english language.
Unfortunately I don't get as many calls as I used to; maybe they are catching on to me?
In retirement you have to get some jollys where you don't always have a chance.

I have found they are not there if you answer or it is a recording. I suppose I could listen to the whole recording and get someone live at some point, but waste of time.

I (OP) have blocked all calls from my area code prefix. They can still leave a message, so should be fine.

I am already on the do not call list and verified that. I think I may have stupidly given my number to someone when getting health insurance quotes and not read the fine print (not even sure of the site I used).

More likely than not, they got your number on the black market as the result of one of the data breaches or they just randomly dialed numbers until they got a real one. I've received spam calls from my local area code pretending to be my student loan provider. They know my name, but my student loan provider is located on the other coast, so they would not be calling from my area code. I assume they got the data from the Equifax breach, which would contain this information, or from an undisclosed (potentially undiscovered) breach at one of the student loan providers or universities. I stopped receiving those particular calls when I told the phone rep I knew it was a scam.

The "won a vacation", "owe IRS money", "Michelle from customer service", and other such scams has been going for a lot longer and all indications are that they just randomly call numbers hoping to get someone. That's why they never mention your name in their little intro script, because they don't know your name until you give it to them.

For our ISP landline we use nomorobo and it has been pretty effective at screening robo calls
Out. We get at least several every day. On my mobile I use robokiller. Seems to work pretty well. You have to pay $2.50 a month. I’ve received so few of these calls lately I’m contemplating dropping it.

I've simply set my phone to always be on "do not disturb" but allow that feature to be turned off for those in my contact list. Thus people I know can make my phone ding, anyone else gets auto-silenced. Takes care of all these kinds of calls whether they're from my own prefix or not.

If I'm expecting a call from someone not on my contact list (say a contractor coming to work on my house), I just turn off "do not disturb" for the time I expect the call. Then turn it back on after the call is done.

Worst case, someone legit falls through the cracks and has to leave a voicemail. Oh well, I'll just call them back.

Wife's cell phone rings, she picks up. Unknown but unblocked number, but close to hers (same XXX-YYY). Guy goes "hi, I saw you just tried to called me." She correctly states that no, she hadn't called anyone for hours. Guy wouldn't believe it, starts arguing.

So someone spoofed her number for a spam call, recipient misses call but later calls spoofed number back.

I don't know anyone with a similar number than mine, and I don't live in my "area code" region anymore, so I never pick up those "similar number" calls anymore. And certainly don't call back.

I kept getting them from what appeared to be the same number (had same area code and prefix as mine, so the last 4 were easy to recognize). I called it back from a landline at work and it was some poor guy who owns a carpet cleaning company. He had no idea.

This is pretty awful, because the only people who are likely to be scammed by this are the elderly or the unfortunate.

"By singing in harmony from the same page of the same investing hymnal, the Diehards drown out market noise." |
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--Jason Zweig, quoted in The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

I get the same calls the OP mentioned, but it's usually someone from a vague "credit card rewards" center or some cruise line. Once you answer and hear silence, you know several robo-calls are coming later that day or the next.

My phone number is one digit off from the local rehab too, so I've gotten a lot of angry calls from people with relatives there. I tell them they called a personal cell phone, and sometimes they think I'm kidding. I've had people curse at me, and I had one lady DEMAND to know what meds I'm giving her relative... as she began spouting off all her relative's personal information. I have to explain it's a personal cell, or they'll keep calling and leave voicemails. I get one of those about once a month.

Yup, I do it all the time. Small claims varies, but usually $25-$200 or so. State court is usually $200-$250 or so. Federal is $400. If you get a lawyer to take the case, your cost is likely zero, but they are going to want a lot of calls vs an easily identifiable entity plus 40% of the recovery.

A better question is what do you think the average settlement/recovery is? That's usually in the high 4 to low 5 figures.

Most are probably located in India or outside the US.

Many telemarketers are, but some are in the USA. That doesn't matter, though, the people they are calling on behalf of are right here in the USA.

And who said they are violating a law?

Multiple judges, the FCC, FTC, and state attorney's general and Congress. If you get a call to your cell phone without consent that is automated or has a pre-recorded message, it probably violates the law.

Suing and collecting are completely unrelated.

Not completely unrelated. You need a judgment to collect and neither one of them is spectacularly difficult.

How are you supposed to sue people when you don't know who they are?

Subpoena the carrier of the phone number that is calling you? Pretend to be interested to get other identifying information that can be subpoenaed or just pretend to be interested and buy the product then do a credit card dispute after you identify them.

I still wonder why our supposedly expert federal security people can't find or aren't set to find these people.

They are readily identifiable and most of the high volume callers are known. I can figure out who they are pretty quickly usually.

Yup, I do it all the time. Small claims varies, but usually $25-$200 or so. State court is usually $200-$250 or so. Federal is $400. If you get a lawyer to take the case, your cost is likely zero, but they are going to want a lot of calls vs an easily identifiable entity plus 40% of the recovery.

A better question is what do you think the average settlement/recovery is? That's usually in the high 4 to low 5 figures.

Most are probably located in India or outside the US.

Many telemarketers are, but some are in the USA. That doesn't matter, though, the people they are calling on behalf of are right here in the USA.

And who said they are violating a law?

Multiple judges, the FCC, FTC, and state attorney's general and Congress. If you get a call to your cell phone without consent that is automated or has a pre-recorded message, it probably violates the law.

Suing and collecting are completely unrelated.

Not completely unrelated. You need a judgment to collect and neither one of them is spectacularly difficult.

How are you supposed to sue people when you don't know who they are?

Subpoena the carrier of the phone number that is calling you? Pretend to be interested to get other identifying information that can be subpoenaed or just pretend to be interested and buy the product then do a credit card dispute after you identify them.

I still wonder why our supposedly expert federal security people can't find or aren't set to find these people.

They are readily identifiable and most of the high volume callers are known. I can figure out who they are pretty quickly usually.

I am being spammed by the “neighbor phone number”. For the last 1.5 hours it has been every 7 minutes. How do I find out who is calling since the caller I’d is not real?

I got a call recently from an uknown number which included my local area code, so I answered out of curiousity. A female voice spoke with an Indian accent and claimed that she was from [insert name of local city], however, she pronounced the name of the local city incorrectly, in a way that would be obvious to a local but not obvious to a foreigner. (I don't live in Illinois, but as an example, a foreigner might pronounce the "s" in Illinois not realizing it is silent.) I laughed and told her that she was not calling from [insert name of local city] and I intentionally pronouned it incorrectly in the same way that she did, and I said she should learn to pronounce it properly, she hung up.

I am being spammed by the “neighbor phone number”. For the last 1.5 hours it has been every 7 minutes. How do I find out who is calling since the caller I’d is not real?

That sounds like it might be a fax machine calling you. That happened to me years ago on a regular basis. I finally routed the calls through my computer which was set up to receive faxes at the time, took the fax, and then contacted the company faxing me. It was some kind of a weekly newsletter for the business.

I would unplug my phone for a while or turn the ringer volume off just to avoid the noise and then if it starts again tomorrow or in the near future might actually answer it even though I don't usually answer calls unless I know who it is these days because of all the spam calls.

I get a lot of these on my cell phone. I rarely use my cell phone and I have given the number out to maybe 10 people, none of them have my prefix. I do start to recognize the last 4 digits after a while, the most often used one is xxx-xxx-3456. It gets pretty annoying because 90% of my cell phone calls are garbage ones, turning my cell phone into a receptacle for all this junk.

I get a lot of these on my cell phone. I rarely use my cell phone and I have given the number out to maybe 10 people, none of them have my prefix. I do start to recognize the last 4 digits after a while, the most often used one is xxx-xxx-3456. It gets pretty annoying because 90% of my cell phone calls are garbage ones, turning my cell phone into a receptacle for all this junk.